Good morning. I'm so honored to be here. It's an honor to be asked to
be here. Thank you, Brother Todd. I was thinking last night how
thankful I am to be with these other men that the Lord has called
to preach. And then it hit me how thankful
I am to be with every single soul that God has called into
His family. It's an honor to be here with
you. That song just blessed my soul. I know that song is, I
Surrender All. That's the greatest lyric change
I believe I've ever heard. Thank you. Let's go before our
Lord one more time in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we
come before you. begging for your spirit. Lord, we are all here to worship
you. We're all here to hear. And if
it be thy will, would you descend on us? Would you come into this
place? Would you send your spirit? Thank
you for blessing the two men who stood last night. Thank you
for blessing their message. Thank you for blessing it to
our hearts. Lord, five men will stand today, two tomorrow. Help
us. We need you. Don't let us stand
up here to perform for anyone. Let us stand up here with your
word and your spirit. Help us to leave this world for
just a minute Help us to enter into Your presence and Your Kingdom
and sit down at Your feet. Would You touch us and speak
to us? We ask these things for Christ's
sake. Amen. Turn with me, if you would, to
John chapter 7. John chapter 7. A man made the statement years
ago, he said, I preach as a dying man to dying men. And seeing the seriousness and
the reality of eternity, I mean eternity, He's around the corner. Seeing that seriousness will
make a man preach as a dying man to dying men. What that means is we preach
personally. As sinners to sinners. This is personal for us. As beggars
to beggars. And with that being said, our
message is actually the message of our Lord Jesus Christ. The
message that we preach is the very message of our Lord Jesus
Christ. We're just repeating what He
said. That's all that preaching is. We are only repeating what
God has written. We're only declaring what God
has already recorded in His Word. We're trying to bring the glory
of His message to sinners and beggars who need it. And this is the glory of His
message. This is the absolute glory of our Lord's message. This is what makes the message
of Christ such good news. He preached as a dying man to
dying men. He preached as the dying man
for dying men, didn't He? And while those who have not
received ears to hear His message, His beautiful message, while
they have themselves convinced that His message is a hard, unloving,
excluding message, If God ever gives that sinner ears to truly
hear the truth, they'll realize this is the most comfortable,
loving, including message I've ever heard in my life. Now here is our Lord's message.
John 7 verse 37 says, In the last day, that great day of the feast,
Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come
unto me and drink. That's His message. That's His message. That's the
message His preachers have been commanded to repeat. If any man
thirst, Let him come to Christ and drink. Now, this is our message
this morning, this verse. We're about to look at exactly
what our Lord was saying in this, the truth that he was declaring.
And as we look at this, I pray that our Lord would let us enter
into the fact that, as our brother said last night, the door of
the ark is open right now. The door of the ark is open right
now. God told Noah to build an ark. And Noah did. And the whole time he worked
on that ark, Noah preached the wrath of God against the sin
of man. And the only way of escape. And that was the ark. And when
that ark was finished, God put Noah and his family inside that
ark. And they sat there with the door
wide open for seven days. Any man or woman who wanted to
enter into that ark could walk right in. Wide open. Any man or woman who wanted to
enter into that ark could walk right on in. And the sad truth
of man's depravity is no one wanted to. Nobody wanted to. I can see men and women. Our
brother, I loved his illustration last night. He said they took
vacations to go see this ark. I envision the same thing. I
can see men walking up to that ark, looking inside. There sits
Noah. Come on in. There's safety in
here. No thanks. See you later. After seven days, God shut the
door of that ark. His wrath rained down and it
was too late. It was too late. So I very happily,
I have a, I've got the happiest news to tell this morning. I very happily tell us, I pray
the Lord would let us enter into the fact that the door of the
ark is open right now. The door is open right now, wide
open, and that ark is Christ. If any person here has a desire
to enter into Christ and find eternal safety for his soul,
let him come. Let him come. The door is wide
open. Our gospel is such good news. It is such good news. It's better news than we could
have ever imagined. John 7 verse 37 says, In the last day, That great day of the feast,
Jesus stood and cried, saying, If. If. That is a big if. While most people believe that
if falls on you and me, it does not. It does not. Look back at chapter
6, John chapter 6. Verse 35 says, And Jesus said unto them, I am
the bread of life, he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and
he that believeth on me shall never thirst. He that comes to
me shall never hunger. He that believes on me shall
never thirst. Verse 44 says, No man can come to me. He's saying, if you come to me,
you'll never hunger and thirst ever again. But no man can come
to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him, and I will
raise him up at the last day. I'll raise him up at the last
day. Coming to Christ is something that is totally dependent on
His doing. Totally, totally dependent on
His doing. If we, it's only because He. If we, it's only because He. Look back at John chapter 5. John 5 verse 40 says, And you
will not come to me, that you might have life. cannot, will
not. So the if falls on Him. That
if falls on Him. Now back in chapter 7, John 7
verse 37 says, In the last day, that great day
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man, Now do the scriptures teach that
God has an elect? Yes, they do teach that. Do the
scriptures teach that God will save His people and only His
people? Yes, they do teach that. Then
why did Christ say any man? Why did He say any man? And why
would we now stand up and say that this applies to any man
if it only applies to God's elect? Turn with me over to Matthew
22. While we're turning there, I'll
give us the answer. Our Lord did not stand up and
cry that beautiful message to any man. He didn't speak those words of
peace and those words of life to any man. He said, I'm speaking
to any man or woman who is thirsty. That's what He said. Any man or woman who is thirsty,
He cried, if any man Thirst. That's who he's speaking to.
Matthew 22 verse 14 says, For many are called, but few are
chosen. Many are called, but few are
chosen. Chosen to be what? Thirsty. Chosen to be thirsty. This flesh
does not naturally thirst for the things of God. It thirsts
for the things of this world. It thirsts for sin. But it doesn't thirst for God.
Thirst is an acknowledgment of lack. Have you ever been thirsty?
It's an acknowledgment of lack. It's an acknowledgment of need. And it's a desire to fill it.
That's what thirst is. These bodies thirst for water. And that thirst is what keeps
these bodies alive. If we didn't have water, we wouldn't
survive. Without that thirst, we would
have no idea that we're empty and in need. That thirst is what tells us,
if I don't lay hold of that living water, I am going to die. Now this message of Christ goes
out into the ears of everybody. Haven't they all heard? Many
are called, but few are chosen to receive this thirst. Few are
chosen to receive an acknowledgment of their spiritual lack, an acknowledgment
of their spiritual need. Few are given a spiritual desire,
a desire in the heart to fill it. But if He has given that desire
to you, if He has given that desire to
you. If any man thirsts, don't you
love when David said, As the deer pants after the water brooks,
so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for
God, for the living God. If you thirst for forgiveness
from sin, do you thirst for that? Do you thirst? I need it. I mean I need it. I have to have it. I have to
have it. Do you need to be in that ark
before God shuts the door? Do you need to be inside the
ark before God shuts the door? The kingdom of heaven suffereth
violence and the violent take it by force. Does your heart
cry with Jacob, I will not let you go except you bless me? Do you need to be conformed to
the image of Christ? Must you have His blood on you? Could you leave this world? Are you okay with leaving this
world without His blood on you? Or must, if I leave this world,
I have to leave this world with His blood on me? Must you leave
it with blood on you? Or else you'll die. If I leave
it without blood on me, I'm going to die. Do you thirst for righteousness? The righteousness of Christ,
the goodness of who He is, His grace, His mercy, His favor,
His kindness? Do you want Him? Do you want
Him? Not just want to be right doctrinally. We're right, they're wrong. Do
you want Him? Do you want to be just like Him?
If you do, go with me over to Matthew 5. Matthew 5 verse 6 says, Blessed
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for
they shall be filled. They shall be filled. They're
going to be filled with the righteousness of Christ Himself. If God has
given you that thirst, there are no ifs, ands, or buts about
it. You shall be filled. you shall be filled. If you have
to have it, you shall have it. Now, back over in John chapter
7, this is what our Lord is telling us. John 7 verse 37 says, In
the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and
cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come. You'll be allowed
to. Could you imagine approaching
God without the favor of God? Without Him allowing it? You'll
be allowed to. You will not be killed on sight. Because of man's sin, no man
can see God and live. Men are leaving this world every
day and they're going to meet God, and as soon as they see
Him, it's eternal damnation, eternal death. No man can see
God and live. But He said, if I've given you
a thirst, for a remedy for that sin. If
you are craving a remedy for sin, then I have already provided
you a remedy for that sin. If you have a thirst for Christ,
then you have Christ. If you need to be in the ark,
then you already have a place inside that ark. Come on in. The door is wide open. Wide open. Verse 37 says, In the last day,
that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
If any man thirst, let him come unto me. Christ is the living
water. Christ is the one that can satisfy
that thirst that God gives. God gives the thirst. Christ
satisfies the thirst. That woman with the issue of
blood, can you imagine that woman? Can you picture what was going
on in her heart, in her mind when she was saying, I've heard
about him and what he's able to do, and if I could just get
to him. All of these people, all these
obstacles are in the way. Maybe I could get down on my
knees and crawl to Him. If I could just touch Him, all
my need would be satisfied. He says, come to Me. Somebody touch Me. Do you have a thirst? Do you
have a thirst in your heart, in your soul? Come to the One
who can satisfy the thirst. There is plenty for you. There is plenty for you. Turn
with me over to Psalm 46. Psalm 46 verse 4 says, There is a river, the streams
whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the
tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. God shall help her and that right
early. There is a river. There's a river. We have a dear brother and a
dear sister who sing that song I love so much. He's about to
stand up here and preach. There is a river. Don't you love
that song? There is a river. That song says,
There was a thirsty woman who was drawing from a well. Her
life was ruined and wasted. Her soul was bound for hell. Then she met the Master who told
of her great sin. And if you drink this water,
you'll never thirst again. There's a river. There's a river
that flows from deep within. There is a fountain. There's
a fountain of blood that flows from the veins of God Almighty. There is a fountain that frees
the soul from sin. Come to this water. There is
a vast supply. Christ is the river that never
shall run dry. Are you thirsty? Are you thirsty? Come. Bring your dry, parched
heart to the waters of Christ. Back in John 7, Verse 37 says, In the last day, that great day
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst,
let him come unto me and drink. You know people want to make
a work out of salvation, don't they? That's where everybody
errs. They want to make a work, man's
work, out of salvation. What must I do? What did our
Lord say to do? Drink. Just drink. That's not hard. Anybody can do that. A brand
spanking new baby can do that. That's not a work. As a matter
of fact, that's something I do when I want to stop working. If I'm ready to stop working,
that's what I do. Everybody in here knows what
it's like to be outside in the blazing hot sun. You're sweating,
you're tired, you're thirsty, and finally you realize, man,
I've got to take a break. Let's get something to drink.
Let's stop working and drink. Our Lord said, if any man thirsts,
if any man or woman who God has given this thirst to, it doesn't
matter how old, it doesn't matter how young, it doesn't matter
how sinful, it doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter
what you've done, If God has given you this thirst for the
living water that only Christ can give, then he says, you come
to me in your heart and you drink. You drink. I'll close this with
Revelation 22. Turn with me over to Revelation
22. Revelation 22 verse 16 says, I, Jesus, have sent mine angel
to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root
and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth
say, Come. And let him that is a thirst
come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Are you thirsty? Are you thirsty?